As an exhaust gas purification apparatus for an internal combustion engine, an apparatus having an oxidation catalyst or an NOx catalyst provided in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine has been known. There has been known a technology pertaining to such an exhaust gas purification apparatus for an internal combustion engine in which the internal combustion engine is run in either an exhaust gas temperature raising mode, in which the exhaust gas temperature rises, or an exhaust component reduction mode in which the amount of hydrocarbon (HC) in the exhaust gas is reduced. Specifically, there has been known a technology in which during the period from the start of the internal combustion engine until the catalyst is activated, the internal combustion engine is run in the exhaust gas temperature rising mode, and after the activation of the catalyst, the exhaust gas temperature raising mode and the exhaust component reduction mode are switched according to the purifying performance of the catalyst or exhaust components (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).